Cambodia: Land to conquer and conflict zone in the asymmetric China-Vietnam warfare(1)
An observational travelogue
By Karuna Heng
[La version française est disponible à la fin du texte en anglais]
Cambodia’s territory is well divided into grids and the CPP soldiers claim that they ensure its security at 2,000% (2,000 instead of just 100%).
Following on the spot verification, Cambodian soldiers indeed appear to be very motivated in controlling their zones. In fact, these military zones had become their lands. They are authorized to do whatever they want with it: carving out lands for sale, abusive exploitation of natural and mineral resources, tourist and economic exploitations. They are building trails everywhere in order to better exploit and control their “wealth”. Cambodian senior army leaders, most likely, are currently among the richest people in the world, however, they may not know about it yet. The soldiers’ wealth is no longer hidden, it is recently becoming a publicly visible phenomenon even for untrained eyes. It all started when China provided unconditional aid to the Hun Sen regime, somewhere around 1998-2000. Therefore, the Vietnamese had to give also in order to assure the “revolutionary solidarity” of Cambodian soldiers. The subtle difference being that the Vietnamese give to the Cambodian, resources which belong to Cambodians. It is a skillful subterfuge, but the Cambodians cannot be tricked so easily. We must acknowledge the communist Vietnamese for their craftsmanship in subterfuge and concealment. The Cambodians, by stupidly wasting their natural resources, will become more vulnerable and more easily controllable.
Cambodia is squarely placed in the middle of an asymmetric warfare confronting the Chinese and the Vietnamese. The latter is attempting to mobilize international capitals through regional-scale projects placed under its own control (e.g., development triangle). Westerners (Caucasians and Japanese) and some Asian countries allied with Japan and the US (such as South Korea) are financing GMS (Greater Mekong Sub-region) projects, and along with it, the Vietnamese plan for the development triangle which is aiming at bringing the center of gravity of the Vietnamese empire towards a region which facilitates the military control and the administration of territories, and recently conquered nations: Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam. The operation still remains somewhat discreet to the international eyes since it is well disguised as regional development. The onset of “development infrastructures” can be easily discernable in Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri, as well as, the encouragements made by Vietnam to colonize these provinces.
Remember the somewhat coerced announce made by the CPP regime to inform the world that it is placing the management of Cambodian gas and oil, offshore and under the Tonle Sap lake, to the Vietnamese?
Let’s recall that the Koh Puos island, located about ½ kilometer from Sihanoukville, was given as a concession to Russian firms. The US had started talks with Phnom Penh to obtain the concession of Koh Rung and Rung Sanloem islands, located in front of the Cambodian seaport. Furthermore, a US indiscretion revealed that a brigade of special Vietnamese Navy based in Koh Tral island (Phu Quoc island) is in charge of controlling all the Cambodian maritime territory, as well as the access to the Cambodian coastlines and the Kompong Som seaport.
In summary, there is effectively a regain of rather dynamic strategic activities under the guise of GMS regional development. The anti-Chinese coalition is preparing itself for the upcoming confrontation, everyone is trying to delay the date of the diplomatic management of conflicts that the UN has embarked on in recent years, hoping to win time to consolidate its defensive advantages on a large swath of the Indochinese peninsula. Cambodia and its Sihanoukville seaport are known by the various protagonists as a strategic logistic basis allowing China to arm the Vietnamese troops during the war, and led to the communist victory over the US in 1975. The discovery of offshore oil in Cambodian maritime zones, and the discovery of gas and oil in the Tonle Sap lake, turn Cambodia into a enviable country. The control of Cambodia is strategic from the economic resources, military aspect, and oil energy point of view. Cambodia, through its oil, is becoming again a highly courted geopolitical strategic zone. Suddenly, Hun Sen becomes someone people can associate with: the US built in Phnom Penh their largest embassy in the region and the Vietnamese installed their largest gas distribution there (Sokimex, etc…).
In Cambodia, the Cambodian military is openly taking advantage of this new conjuncture, and of their newfound wealth, to lead an outlandish life which turns the Vietnamese advisors installed in Cambodia, green with jealousy. Furthermore, some Vietnamese military chiefs who by now have been morphing into Cambodian, are also taking advantage of it, and they will do anything to cling on to their job in the El Dorado country, since their life in Vietnam is poorer and less posh than the one in Cambodia. Is this the vision of the upcoming conflict or is it the Cambodian genetic naivety which pushes Cambodian militaries to take advantage of life in such an open and ebullient fashion? A Cambodian army captain – a former officer who saw the military campaigns in Preah Vihear, Anlong Veng, and Pailin – totally rejects the idea of going to live in the US with his fortune. He claims that in the US, he will never be able to afford three wives as easily as it is in Cambodia. He assures that happiness is now found in Cambodia. One then wonders why other Cambodian men and women still continue to sustain the clandestine immigration business to the US and are willing to pay up to US$ 45,000 per person to be smuggled there? Haven’t they noticed the wind of change in their country?
Each day see a new wave of arrival of Chinese “businessmen” eager to acquire perpetual concessions, furthermore, in the middle of lush Cambodian countryside, thousands of graves with Sino-Vietnamese-styled tombstones are mushrooming along Cambodia’s roads. Is this the telltale sign of an increasingly growing immigration into Cambodia?
Surely, the warmongers of the upcoming Asia Pacific conflict have chosen Cambodia as their war zone. The Vietnamese are preparing their defense line in Cambodia by drowning the Cambodian army with alcohol, vices, and social abuses, and thus assuring in the process that this Cambodian army remains defenseless and unable to emancipate itself from the Vietnamese control. Life in the Cambodian jungle is more active than ever. One wonders if a new bamboo wall is not currently being built to protect against the soldiers from opposite camp?
How will Cambodia get out of this deadly trap? What can one do to help Cambodia and her people avoid a new catastrophe? That is the challenge that Cambodians who escaped death from the East-West conflict must answer to. Meanwhile, the International Khmer Rouge Tribunal lacks the tailwind to push itself forward.
The world is already interested in the upcoming conflict which will soon oppose China against a coalition of Asian Pacific countries. Cambodia could again become a sideshow, but who will be interested in the fate of the Cambodian people? The world will only be contented to come and visit the cultural artifacts which are evidence of the Angkor civilization apogee. World tourists will admire antic treasures left behind by the extinct Cambodian people, and they will whisper that this extinct people were indeed great artists.
A Nation which does not defend itself is destined to extinction.
Karuna Heng
------
(1) Asymmetric warfare: Asymmetric warfare is a term that describes a military situation in which two belligerents of unequal strength interact and take advantage of their respective strengths and weaknesses. This interaction often involves strategies and tactics outside the bounds of conventional warfare.
L'espace cambodgien est bien quadrillé et les militaires du PPC clament assurer sa sécurité à 2000 pourcent (deux milles au lieu de 100%).
Aprés vérifications sur le terrain, les militaires cambodgiens apparaissent en effet trés motivés dans le contrôle de leur région. En effet ces régions militaires sont devenues leurs terres. Ils sont autorisés à en faire ce qu'ils veulent: vente des terrains à la découpe, exploitation abusive des ressources naturelles et minérales, exploitation touristique et économique. Ils ont fait des pistes partout pour mieux exploiter et contrôler leurs "richesses". Les grands chefs militaires cambodgiens sont peut-être aujoudhui parmi les plus riches du monde mais ne le savent peut-être pas encore. La richesse des militaires ne se cachent plus aujoud'hui, mais c'est un phénomène publiquement visible que récemment à l'oeil non-averti. C'est venu depuis que les chinois ont commencé à donner des aides sans conditions au régime Hun Sen, vers les années 1998-2000. Alors les vietnamiens ont du aussi donner pour s'assurer de "la solidarité révolutionnaire" des militaires cambodgiens. La subtilité, c'est que les vietnamiens donnent aux cambodgiens des ressources qui appartiennent aux Cambodgiens. C'est un habile subterfuge. Les cambodgiens se laissent berner facilement. Reconnaissons aux communistes vietnamiens l'art des subterfuges et de la dissimulation. Les Cambodgiens en gaspillant stupidement leurs ressources naturelles, deviendront plus vulnérables et plus facilement controlables.
Le Cambodge est placé dans une zone de guerre assymétrique entre les chinois et les viets. Les viets essaient de mobiliser les financements internationaux à travers des projets d'échelle régionale placés sous leur contrôle ( e.g. le triangle du développement) . Les occidentaux ( les blancs et les japonais) et certains asiatiques alignées avec les japs et les USA (Korée du sud) financent les projets du GMS (great mekong subregion) et donc le plan vietnamien de triangle du développement qui a pour but d'amener le centre de gravité de l'empire vietnamien vers une région facilitant le contrôle militaire et l'administration des territoires et peuples récemment conquis : Cambodge, Laos et Vietnam du sud. L'opération reste encore assez discrète aux yeux de l'opinion mondiale car réellement bien dissimulée sous la couverture du développement régional. On peut nettement observé le début des "infrastructures de développement " mises en place à Rattanakiri et Mondulkiri et les encouragement soutenus du Vietnam à coloniser ses provinces.
Souvenez-vous de l'annonce un peu forcée du régime PPC informant le monde qu'ils ont confié la gestion du pétrole et gaz cambodgiens, offshore et TonléSap, au Vietnam?
Rappellons que l'île de Koh Puos, situé à 500 mètres de la ville de Sihanoukville, a été donné en longue concession à des entreprises russes. Les américains avaient commencer les pourparlers avec Phnom-Penh pour une concession des koh Rung et Rung Sanloem situées juste en face du port khmer. En outre des indiscrétions américaines ont dévoilé qu' une brigade spéciale Marine vietnamienne basée sur Koh Tral (île Phu Quoc) est chargé de contrôler tout le territoire maritime cambodgien et l'accés au littoral khmer et au port de Kampong Som.
En bref, il y a effectivement un regain d'activités stratégiques assez dynamique en dessous de la moquette développement régional du GMS. La coalition anti-chine se prépare à des confrontations futures. Chacun essaie de retarder la date derriere la diplomatie gestion des conflits entreprise par les Nations-Unies depuis quelques années, en espérant gagner du temps pour consolider ses avantages défensifs sur un vaste espace de la péninsule indochinoise. Le Cambodge et son port Sihanoukville est connue par les divers belligérants comme base logistique stratégique qui a permis à la chine d'approvisionner les troupes vietnamiennes dans la guerre qui a donné la victoire aux communistes en 1975 sur les américains. La découverte du pétrole offshore dans les eaux maritimes cambodgiennes et la découverte du gaz et du pétrole dans le lac Tonlésap, a transformé le Cambodge en pays de toutes les convoitises. Le contrôle du Cambodge est devenu stratégique de point de vue ressources économiques et de point de vue militaire comme ressouces de carburants. Le Cambodge, par son pétrole est redevenu un espace géostratégique courtisé. Du coup Hun Sen est devenu fréquentable. Les USA ont construit à Phnom-Penh leur plus grande ambassade de la région et les vietnamiens y installent le plus grand réseau de distribution de carburants (Sokimex,etc...).
Au Cambodge, les militaires cambodgiens profitent sans restrictions de la nouvelle conjoncture et de leur nouvelle richesse pour mener une vie outrancière qui rend les conseillers vietnamiens installés au Cambodge jaloux à mourir. D'ailleurs certains chefs militaires vietnamiens khmérisés en profitent et ne voudraient pour rien abandonner leur fonction au pays de l'Eldorado. Car au Vietnam c'est bien plus pauvre et on vit bien moins luxueusement qu'au Cambodge. Est-ce la vision d'un conflit proche ou la naïveté congénitale khmère qui poussent les militaires cambodgiens à profiter de la vie d'une manière si débordande et ouverte ? Un capitaine cambodgien, un ancien gradé qui a fait les campagnes de Preah Vihear, Anlong Veng et Pailin, rejette totalement l'idée d'aller vivre sa fortune au USA disant qu'en amérique il ne pourra jamais entretenir trois femmes aussi facilement qu' aujoud'hui au Cambodge. Le bonheur est en ce moment au Cambodge, assure t-il. Que penser quand certains autres cambodgiens-cambodgiennes continuent à soutenir l'immigration clandestine vers les Etats-Unis en acceptant de payer 45 000 dollars USD par tête aux trafiquants ? Ils n'ont pas encore appris que le vent a tourné pour leur pays.
Chaque jour débarquent des "hommes d'affaires" chinois empressés d'acquérir des concessions à perpétuité. D'ailleurs on peut voit le long des routes du Cambodge des milliers de tombes façon sino-vietnamienne. Elles poussent comme des champignons dans les belles campagnes verdoyantes du pays. Ces tombeaux florissants sont-ils la démonstration de la présence d'une grandissante immigration au Cambodge ?
Assurément les belligérants du prochain conflit asie-pacifique choisissent le cambodge comme leur terrain de guerre. Les vietnamiens préparent leur lignes de défense au cambodge en noyant l'armée cambodgienne dans l'alcool, les vices et les abus sociaux, s'assurant de la sorte que cette armée khmère reste inoffensive et ne pourrait s'émanciper de leur contrôle. La vie dans les forêts cambodgiennes est plus active que jamais. Y prépare t-on déjà un nouveau mur de bambous pour les soldats adverses ?
Comment le Cambodge va-t-il sortir de ce piège à mort ? Comment faut-il agir pour éviter au Cambodge et à son peuple une nouvelle catastrophe ? C'est le défi que les cambodgiens réchappés de la mort pendant le conflit est-ouest doit relever. En attendant le tribunal international contre les khmers rouges manquent du vent dans leur voile.
Le monde s'intéresse déjà au prochain conflit qui opposera prochainement la chine à une coalition de pays du Pacifique. Le Cambodge peut redevenir à nouveau un side-show, mais qui s'intéresse au sort du peuple khmer ? Le monde se contentera de venir visiter les vestiges culturels qui témoignent de l'apogée de la civilisation d'Angkor. Les touristes du monde contemplera les trésors antiques laissés par le peuple khmer disparu en murmurant que ce peuple était de grands artistes.
Un peuple qui ne se défend plus est voué à la disparition.
Karuna
Following on the spot verification, Cambodian soldiers indeed appear to be very motivated in controlling their zones. In fact, these military zones had become their lands. They are authorized to do whatever they want with it: carving out lands for sale, abusive exploitation of natural and mineral resources, tourist and economic exploitations. They are building trails everywhere in order to better exploit and control their “wealth”. Cambodian senior army leaders, most likely, are currently among the richest people in the world, however, they may not know about it yet. The soldiers’ wealth is no longer hidden, it is recently becoming a publicly visible phenomenon even for untrained eyes. It all started when China provided unconditional aid to the Hun Sen regime, somewhere around 1998-2000. Therefore, the Vietnamese had to give also in order to assure the “revolutionary solidarity” of Cambodian soldiers. The subtle difference being that the Vietnamese give to the Cambodian, resources which belong to Cambodians. It is a skillful subterfuge, but the Cambodians cannot be tricked so easily. We must acknowledge the communist Vietnamese for their craftsmanship in subterfuge and concealment. The Cambodians, by stupidly wasting their natural resources, will become more vulnerable and more easily controllable.
Cambodia is squarely placed in the middle of an asymmetric warfare confronting the Chinese and the Vietnamese. The latter is attempting to mobilize international capitals through regional-scale projects placed under its own control (e.g., development triangle). Westerners (Caucasians and Japanese) and some Asian countries allied with Japan and the US (such as South Korea) are financing GMS (Greater Mekong Sub-region) projects, and along with it, the Vietnamese plan for the development triangle which is aiming at bringing the center of gravity of the Vietnamese empire towards a region which facilitates the military control and the administration of territories, and recently conquered nations: Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam. The operation still remains somewhat discreet to the international eyes since it is well disguised as regional development. The onset of “development infrastructures” can be easily discernable in Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri, as well as, the encouragements made by Vietnam to colonize these provinces.
Remember the somewhat coerced announce made by the CPP regime to inform the world that it is placing the management of Cambodian gas and oil, offshore and under the Tonle Sap lake, to the Vietnamese?
Let’s recall that the Koh Puos island, located about ½ kilometer from Sihanoukville, was given as a concession to Russian firms. The US had started talks with Phnom Penh to obtain the concession of Koh Rung and Rung Sanloem islands, located in front of the Cambodian seaport. Furthermore, a US indiscretion revealed that a brigade of special Vietnamese Navy based in Koh Tral island (Phu Quoc island) is in charge of controlling all the Cambodian maritime territory, as well as the access to the Cambodian coastlines and the Kompong Som seaport.
In summary, there is effectively a regain of rather dynamic strategic activities under the guise of GMS regional development. The anti-Chinese coalition is preparing itself for the upcoming confrontation, everyone is trying to delay the date of the diplomatic management of conflicts that the UN has embarked on in recent years, hoping to win time to consolidate its defensive advantages on a large swath of the Indochinese peninsula. Cambodia and its Sihanoukville seaport are known by the various protagonists as a strategic logistic basis allowing China to arm the Vietnamese troops during the war, and led to the communist victory over the US in 1975. The discovery of offshore oil in Cambodian maritime zones, and the discovery of gas and oil in the Tonle Sap lake, turn Cambodia into a enviable country. The control of Cambodia is strategic from the economic resources, military aspect, and oil energy point of view. Cambodia, through its oil, is becoming again a highly courted geopolitical strategic zone. Suddenly, Hun Sen becomes someone people can associate with: the US built in Phnom Penh their largest embassy in the region and the Vietnamese installed their largest gas distribution there (Sokimex, etc…).
In Cambodia, the Cambodian military is openly taking advantage of this new conjuncture, and of their newfound wealth, to lead an outlandish life which turns the Vietnamese advisors installed in Cambodia, green with jealousy. Furthermore, some Vietnamese military chiefs who by now have been morphing into Cambodian, are also taking advantage of it, and they will do anything to cling on to their job in the El Dorado country, since their life in Vietnam is poorer and less posh than the one in Cambodia. Is this the vision of the upcoming conflict or is it the Cambodian genetic naivety which pushes Cambodian militaries to take advantage of life in such an open and ebullient fashion? A Cambodian army captain – a former officer who saw the military campaigns in Preah Vihear, Anlong Veng, and Pailin – totally rejects the idea of going to live in the US with his fortune. He claims that in the US, he will never be able to afford three wives as easily as it is in Cambodia. He assures that happiness is now found in Cambodia. One then wonders why other Cambodian men and women still continue to sustain the clandestine immigration business to the US and are willing to pay up to US$ 45,000 per person to be smuggled there? Haven’t they noticed the wind of change in their country?
Each day see a new wave of arrival of Chinese “businessmen” eager to acquire perpetual concessions, furthermore, in the middle of lush Cambodian countryside, thousands of graves with Sino-Vietnamese-styled tombstones are mushrooming along Cambodia’s roads. Is this the telltale sign of an increasingly growing immigration into Cambodia?
Surely, the warmongers of the upcoming Asia Pacific conflict have chosen Cambodia as their war zone. The Vietnamese are preparing their defense line in Cambodia by drowning the Cambodian army with alcohol, vices, and social abuses, and thus assuring in the process that this Cambodian army remains defenseless and unable to emancipate itself from the Vietnamese control. Life in the Cambodian jungle is more active than ever. One wonders if a new bamboo wall is not currently being built to protect against the soldiers from opposite camp?
How will Cambodia get out of this deadly trap? What can one do to help Cambodia and her people avoid a new catastrophe? That is the challenge that Cambodians who escaped death from the East-West conflict must answer to. Meanwhile, the International Khmer Rouge Tribunal lacks the tailwind to push itself forward.
The world is already interested in the upcoming conflict which will soon oppose China against a coalition of Asian Pacific countries. Cambodia could again become a sideshow, but who will be interested in the fate of the Cambodian people? The world will only be contented to come and visit the cultural artifacts which are evidence of the Angkor civilization apogee. World tourists will admire antic treasures left behind by the extinct Cambodian people, and they will whisper that this extinct people were indeed great artists.
A Nation which does not defend itself is destined to extinction.
Karuna Heng
------
(1) Asymmetric warfare: Asymmetric warfare is a term that describes a military situation in which two belligerents of unequal strength interact and take advantage of their respective strengths and weaknesses. This interaction often involves strategies and tactics outside the bounds of conventional warfare.
x X x
Version Française
Le Cambodge: terre à conquérir et terrain de conflit de la guerre assymétrique Chine-Vietnam
L'espace cambodgien est bien quadrillé et les militaires du PPC clament assurer sa sécurité à 2000 pourcent (deux milles au lieu de 100%).
Aprés vérifications sur le terrain, les militaires cambodgiens apparaissent en effet trés motivés dans le contrôle de leur région. En effet ces régions militaires sont devenues leurs terres. Ils sont autorisés à en faire ce qu'ils veulent: vente des terrains à la découpe, exploitation abusive des ressources naturelles et minérales, exploitation touristique et économique. Ils ont fait des pistes partout pour mieux exploiter et contrôler leurs "richesses". Les grands chefs militaires cambodgiens sont peut-être aujoudhui parmi les plus riches du monde mais ne le savent peut-être pas encore. La richesse des militaires ne se cachent plus aujoud'hui, mais c'est un phénomène publiquement visible que récemment à l'oeil non-averti. C'est venu depuis que les chinois ont commencé à donner des aides sans conditions au régime Hun Sen, vers les années 1998-2000. Alors les vietnamiens ont du aussi donner pour s'assurer de "la solidarité révolutionnaire" des militaires cambodgiens. La subtilité, c'est que les vietnamiens donnent aux cambodgiens des ressources qui appartiennent aux Cambodgiens. C'est un habile subterfuge. Les cambodgiens se laissent berner facilement. Reconnaissons aux communistes vietnamiens l'art des subterfuges et de la dissimulation. Les Cambodgiens en gaspillant stupidement leurs ressources naturelles, deviendront plus vulnérables et plus facilement controlables.
Le Cambodge est placé dans une zone de guerre assymétrique entre les chinois et les viets. Les viets essaient de mobiliser les financements internationaux à travers des projets d'échelle régionale placés sous leur contrôle ( e.g. le triangle du développement) . Les occidentaux ( les blancs et les japonais) et certains asiatiques alignées avec les japs et les USA (Korée du sud) financent les projets du GMS (great mekong subregion) et donc le plan vietnamien de triangle du développement qui a pour but d'amener le centre de gravité de l'empire vietnamien vers une région facilitant le contrôle militaire et l'administration des territoires et peuples récemment conquis : Cambodge, Laos et Vietnam du sud. L'opération reste encore assez discrète aux yeux de l'opinion mondiale car réellement bien dissimulée sous la couverture du développement régional. On peut nettement observé le début des "infrastructures de développement " mises en place à Rattanakiri et Mondulkiri et les encouragement soutenus du Vietnam à coloniser ses provinces.
Souvenez-vous de l'annonce un peu forcée du régime PPC informant le monde qu'ils ont confié la gestion du pétrole et gaz cambodgiens, offshore et TonléSap, au Vietnam?
Rappellons que l'île de Koh Puos, situé à 500 mètres de la ville de Sihanoukville, a été donné en longue concession à des entreprises russes. Les américains avaient commencer les pourparlers avec Phnom-Penh pour une concession des koh Rung et Rung Sanloem situées juste en face du port khmer. En outre des indiscrétions américaines ont dévoilé qu' une brigade spéciale Marine vietnamienne basée sur Koh Tral (île Phu Quoc) est chargé de contrôler tout le territoire maritime cambodgien et l'accés au littoral khmer et au port de Kampong Som.
En bref, il y a effectivement un regain d'activités stratégiques assez dynamique en dessous de la moquette développement régional du GMS. La coalition anti-chine se prépare à des confrontations futures. Chacun essaie de retarder la date derriere la diplomatie gestion des conflits entreprise par les Nations-Unies depuis quelques années, en espérant gagner du temps pour consolider ses avantages défensifs sur un vaste espace de la péninsule indochinoise. Le Cambodge et son port Sihanoukville est connue par les divers belligérants comme base logistique stratégique qui a permis à la chine d'approvisionner les troupes vietnamiennes dans la guerre qui a donné la victoire aux communistes en 1975 sur les américains. La découverte du pétrole offshore dans les eaux maritimes cambodgiennes et la découverte du gaz et du pétrole dans le lac Tonlésap, a transformé le Cambodge en pays de toutes les convoitises. Le contrôle du Cambodge est devenu stratégique de point de vue ressources économiques et de point de vue militaire comme ressouces de carburants. Le Cambodge, par son pétrole est redevenu un espace géostratégique courtisé. Du coup Hun Sen est devenu fréquentable. Les USA ont construit à Phnom-Penh leur plus grande ambassade de la région et les vietnamiens y installent le plus grand réseau de distribution de carburants (Sokimex,etc...).
Au Cambodge, les militaires cambodgiens profitent sans restrictions de la nouvelle conjoncture et de leur nouvelle richesse pour mener une vie outrancière qui rend les conseillers vietnamiens installés au Cambodge jaloux à mourir. D'ailleurs certains chefs militaires vietnamiens khmérisés en profitent et ne voudraient pour rien abandonner leur fonction au pays de l'Eldorado. Car au Vietnam c'est bien plus pauvre et on vit bien moins luxueusement qu'au Cambodge. Est-ce la vision d'un conflit proche ou la naïveté congénitale khmère qui poussent les militaires cambodgiens à profiter de la vie d'une manière si débordande et ouverte ? Un capitaine cambodgien, un ancien gradé qui a fait les campagnes de Preah Vihear, Anlong Veng et Pailin, rejette totalement l'idée d'aller vivre sa fortune au USA disant qu'en amérique il ne pourra jamais entretenir trois femmes aussi facilement qu' aujoud'hui au Cambodge. Le bonheur est en ce moment au Cambodge, assure t-il. Que penser quand certains autres cambodgiens-cambodgiennes continuent à soutenir l'immigration clandestine vers les Etats-Unis en acceptant de payer 45 000 dollars USD par tête aux trafiquants ? Ils n'ont pas encore appris que le vent a tourné pour leur pays.
Chaque jour débarquent des "hommes d'affaires" chinois empressés d'acquérir des concessions à perpétuité. D'ailleurs on peut voit le long des routes du Cambodge des milliers de tombes façon sino-vietnamienne. Elles poussent comme des champignons dans les belles campagnes verdoyantes du pays. Ces tombeaux florissants sont-ils la démonstration de la présence d'une grandissante immigration au Cambodge ?
Assurément les belligérants du prochain conflit asie-pacifique choisissent le cambodge comme leur terrain de guerre. Les vietnamiens préparent leur lignes de défense au cambodge en noyant l'armée cambodgienne dans l'alcool, les vices et les abus sociaux, s'assurant de la sorte que cette armée khmère reste inoffensive et ne pourrait s'émanciper de leur contrôle. La vie dans les forêts cambodgiennes est plus active que jamais. Y prépare t-on déjà un nouveau mur de bambous pour les soldats adverses ?
Comment le Cambodge va-t-il sortir de ce piège à mort ? Comment faut-il agir pour éviter au Cambodge et à son peuple une nouvelle catastrophe ? C'est le défi que les cambodgiens réchappés de la mort pendant le conflit est-ouest doit relever. En attendant le tribunal international contre les khmers rouges manquent du vent dans leur voile.
Le monde s'intéresse déjà au prochain conflit qui opposera prochainement la chine à une coalition de pays du Pacifique. Le Cambodge peut redevenir à nouveau un side-show, mais qui s'intéresse au sort du peuple khmer ? Le monde se contentera de venir visiter les vestiges culturels qui témoignent de l'apogée de la civilisation d'Angkor. Les touristes du monde contemplera les trésors antiques laissés par le peuple khmer disparu en murmurant que ce peuple était de grands artistes.
Un peuple qui ne se défend plus est voué à la disparition.
Karuna
10 comments:
Nicely written but based on imagination. Another factless writing........
Excellent article!
It was [their] imagination, plans, and dreams but now it is becoming their reality indeed.
. . . . "How will Cambodia get out of this deadly trap? What can one do to help Cambodia and her people avoid a new catastrophe? That is the challenge that Cambodians who escaped death from the East-West conflict must answer to."
WYS-I-WYG
This article addressed on some part of the problem that Cambodia is facing!
I true believe the Vietcong and Khmer Krom conflict will soon evolve into more like the Palistine and Isrealie conflict!!!Through out history there is one wound that Cambodian people can't be healed and that is the wound of the Khmer Krom people lost to the Vietcong!!
The Vietcong think they are invincible and can't be touched??The Vietcong better think again!!!If the Buddhist Khmer Krom people can burn themselves for the expression of freedom and they sure can trap bombs around their body and walk into Vietcong military base and blow themself up for freedom too!
Does the Vietcong are ready for Sinn Fien style or Palistine rebellion? I suggest the Vietcong better wake up while the Khmer Krom are not so radicalized yet!!!The time will come when the Khmer Krom people will trap bombs to their body and blow themself up for freedom!!!
This article is a wake-up-called for all Khmer people inside Cambodia and abroad. Corruption and immorality of the government personelles make the country incompetence economically with its neighbours. Vietnam always wants to control Indochina ( Cambodia and Laos), to be one of an economic power in southeast asia. If you see a Vietnamese working at a bicycle shop or garbage picker in Phnom Penh, do not underestimate them because he is a spy. Hor Nam Hong is a vietcong lived in Phnom Penh, and now he is a foreign minister of Cambodia. There is a solid proof of his identity. A Khmer man,I do not want to mention his name, who was an ex-marine major in Lon Nol's government married to Hor Nam Hong's sister. He was a man who taught Hor Nam Hong learning Khmer language. Hor Nam Hong was a PM (military police) in Khmer Republics. This guy is very dangerous to Cambodia at the moment. Hun Sen is a just puppet.
This article provides a good analysis of the current situation in Cambodia and evaluates the chance of its future survival based on the existing social, economic and political progression. Only ignorant Cambodians will think that it is just someone's imagination.
No doubt, the Viets have truly infiltrated the Cambodian system of government from top to bottom. Only a few of them are in the spot light (Hor Namhong, Ke Kim Yan, Hok Lundy, etc.), the rest work behind the scene as "Advisors" with whom Cambodian senior officials must consult before making any important decisions. Not to be outdone by the Viets, the Chinese also exert their influence with military, economic and financial assistance to Cambodia, which they consider as a strategic springboard to launch its regional domination. The Sino-Vietnamese presence can be felt everywhere in the country. However, the Viets has the upper hand because they were the last power to conquer and occupy Cambodia, so they have already entrenched themselves in all aspects of Cambodia's lifeline. The Chinese army couldn't defeat the cunning Viet army in 1979 along their common border to save the retreating Khmer Rouge army, so they would be unwilling to confront the Viets militarily. Of course, there are other options which the author of this article is also exploring.
No matter which one of the two powers wins the battle over Cambodia, we lose. And, those beer-belly, intoxicated, overweight and corrupt Cambodian army commanders couldn't care less about that. They will just submit themselves as useful slaves to the winning master in order to retain their wealth and whatever little power they are allowed to have.
This article shows an overview of Cambodian mentality toward defending their own country and what brings down Cambodia to this point in time. What it tells me that we ought to learn from our mistakes; which I don't anyone in the positions of leadership are doing right now. We are allowing the foreign exploitation in our own business. Cambodia ought what it want to do for its future. We ought to consult each other in time of need.
I also wanted to emphasize that we ought to do more on preventing and less on blaming the Vietnamese, the Thai and whoever for taking advantage our us. Instead we ought to blame ourselves for permitting such thing to happen. It is our land, out future, we must decide what do we want to do about it. If we let them exploit us and surely they will... WE MUST FIND OUR OWN DESTINY AND OUR FUTURE. CAMBODIA IS A VERY WELL ENDOWED COUNTRY. WE MUST TAKE OF IT WITH OF IT WITH THE RIGHT KIND OF LEADER.
The day the communist disappeare from the face of this earth may be th eday Cambodian people see the true light of happiness.
Cambodian hell's tale had began with the communist of China, Russia and Vietnam.
If the world want to help Cambodia, please help yourself by getting rid of the Communist and you will see what we really mean.
In the mean time thank you for writing this article Karuna Heng.
One thing I don't understand why American think that only The vietcong can look after those Cambodian's islands? Please stop playing game with us. You have to use Ah Vietcong as a middle man in order to get thru to us. Please respect us as our person and peopel and build relationship seperately. The Hun Sen's government may be traped and may be not at all want to be with Ah Vietcong.
America needs to understand the very heart of Cambodian people and not the Vietcong. True Cambodian don't want to have anything to do the Vietcong and please believe us.
Wherever there are Chineese there are Veitnames. In the end, they both will win. So world don't keep your hope up too high on counting on Ah Vietcong! and please don't forget the Vietnam War.
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